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South Asia Commons

South Asian History and Culture

A comprehensive, full-text repository provides centralized access to millions of pages of high-quality South Asian primary source materials previously scattered across the internet.

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South Asian History and Culture indexes hundreds of thousands of documents from over 500 collections and links to the original sites—and adds newly digitized materials.

Reports, journals, videos, audio files, newspapers, magazines, letters, diaries, and other primary-source materials support studies in history, gender studies, religion, language, political science, and South Asia—with local-language interfaces and mobile access.

At a glance

531,000+

documents—millions of pages—and the database will continue to grow

500+

source organizations so far, and growing

Preserves at-risk content

Where rights permit, we preserve the content with copies. If an item disappears or website is down, the user can access our backup file.

We contribute a portion of sales dollars to further digitization of rare content. A preservation archive of 50,000 pages of newly digitized materials is available as an optional purchase with perpetual rights.

The Iran Society Archivea collection of rare, never-before-digitized material—is now available, freely available through registration. Learn more here.

Reflections on Bhiwandi Riots of 1970, Sajjad Zaheer Digital Archive, The University of Texas at Austin

Free hosting

South Asian History and Culture is a project to help discover, disseminate, and preserve South Asian materials.

Registered users can quickly and easily upload their own items (where they have copyright) or add links—to find a safe and permanent home for their content while contributing to the growth of the project.

Research example: India's Long Emergency

From 1975 to 1977, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency. Elections were canceled and civil liberties suspended. Most of Gandhi's political opponents were imprisoned, and the press was censored. Coverage in South Asian History and Culture includes government reports, recorded testimonials, newsreels from The Emergency India State Films Division, newspaper articles, and more.

Curated content

Dive deeper by reading the comprehensive bibliography.

Editorial Board

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to our dedicated six-member editorial board, whose expertise and engagement have greatly contributed to our projects. 

  • Partha Sarathi Das, PhD, National Library of India, Ministry of Culture, Government of India New Delhi, India

  • Swaguna Datta, PhD, Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India

  • William Gould, PhD, Professor of Indian History, University of Leeds, England

  • Aruna P. Magier, PhD, New York University, New York, NY

  • Alka Rai, PhD, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Delhi, India

  • J. Shivarama, PhD, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

Want a trial?

  • Free, 30-day trial offered with training

  • Flexible pricing options, tailored to your institution's needs

  • Ask your sales rep about collection packages that offer the best value